By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) – Absences by Transportation Security Administration security officers at airports fell slightly on Tuesday to 9.9% as a partial government shutdown hit its 33rd day and long lines were reported at a number of major airports, the government said on Wednesday.
The funding standoff has forced 50,000 Transportation Security Administration airport security officers to work without pay for the last month, and since Sunday around 10% of them are failing to show for work daily.
On Tuesday, around 30% of TSA officers did not show up at New York JFK, Pittsburgh and Houston Bush and 40% at Houston Hobby, the Homeland Security Department said.
The partial government shutdown has disrupted travel at times and prompted CEOs of the nation’s largest airlines to call for a quick end as spring break travel is in full swing.
Typically, under 2% of TSA workers call in sick or do not report to work, DHS said, and hit a high of 10.2% on Tuesday.
Some airports have closed a number of security checkpoints and others are working to raise money to help TSA workers buy food or other essentials as they go without pay.
On Tuesday, a top TSA official warned the agency may be forced to shut down some smaller airports in the coming weeks owing to a shortage of security personnel.
“As the weeks continue, if this continues, it’s not hyperbole to suggest that we may have to quite literally shut down airports – particularly smaller ones if callout rates go up,” Acting Deputy TSA Administrator Adam Stahl told Fox News’s “Fox and Friends.”
DHS said 366 TSA officers have left during the shutdown. On Sunday and Monday, absences spiked over 50% in Houston and more than 30% in New Orleans and Atlanta, with travelers sometimes enduring lines for two hours or longer.
Last fall, a 43-day government shutdown led to widespread flight disruptions and the FAA ordered a 10% flight cut at major airports. “Once again air travel is the political football amid another government shutdown,” the CEOs wrote.
DHS funding lapsed on February 13 after Congress failed to reach a deal on immigration enforcement reforms demanded by Democrats.
Airlines are expecting a record-breaking spring travel period, with 171 million passengers expected to fly, up 4% from the same two-month period last year.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Chris Reese)
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